US, Europe say Russia will cut gas supply during Kyiv invasion, coordinate to cushion impact

The White House says U.S. and European officials are coordinating with natural gas suppliers around the globe to cushion the impact if Russia were to cut off energy supplies in the conflict over Ukraine. U.S. and European allies have promised to punish economic and political sanctions if Russia moves its military into Ukraine, but worry about repercussions for Europeans from any such sanctions, including Russia potentially cutting off the delivery of its natural gas to Europe at the height of winter.

Speaking at the White House briefing Tuesday, press secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration is "engaging with a range of countries and partners to discuss what we want to do incase there could be shortages." Psaki said a disruption caused by Russia would most acutely affect natural gas markets in Europe.

"And so we're engaging our European allies to coordinate response planning, including how to deploy their existing energy stockpiles," she said. Psaki said the administration has also been working to identify non-Russian natural gas supply in North Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the United States.

"We're in discussion with major natural gas producers around the globe to understand their capacity and willingness to temporarily surge natural gas output and to allocate these volumes to European buyers," she said. In the United States, a group representing large industrial energy users and manufacturers that opposes the export of U.S. natural gas appeared open to considering an exception for helping Europeans whether any possible cut-off of Russian natural gas.